There were a few bands vying for this year's title of "Hillside Party Band." Trying to attain the title held by such greats as Thunderheist, Shout Out Out Out Out and Holy Fuck is a lofty goal and I considered Winter Gloves, USS and Woodhands to all be contenders. As already documented, Winter Gloves successfully got the tent jumping, but hampered by their mid-afternoon time slot I wouldn't consider them to be the party of the festival. Given the first kick at the can were USS with the closing slot on the Island Stage Friday night.
USS
Arriving at the tent I was shocked to find a line-up just to enter the area - this was a never-before seen phenomenon at Hillside and frankly was something I never wanted to see. I was disappointed when I heard the band start up while still on the outside trying to catch a glimpse through a break in the tent wall. More disappointed were the obvious Hillside first-timers who cut in line in front of us and then continued to complain that they'd spent $50 for the night's tickets just to see USS. Slowly people filtered out, likely those that were unaware that the show was going to be a slightly obnoxious display of dj-beats, yelling and shenanigans. Finally I made my way inside to find exactly what I expected; people stood atop picnic tables and everyone was already jumping.
[Pictured: Ashley Boo-Schultz, the Human Kebab's impression of a Human Mic-stand, Bob Marley, Albert Einstein]
USS are basically a two-man team of hijinx - a DJ and MC/guitarist who start parties wherever they go (I refuse to use their stage names since at least one of them is supremely silly). During Cloudboy the frontman went for a crowd surf to start the crowd interaction and then gave us something familiar with a bumpin version of Outkast's Hey Ya. The DJ's showmanship included scratching with his nose, head, elbow (with chin-in-hand) and even standing on the turntable to scratch with his feet. Later he lay on his back with his feet in the air clamping the mic between them to act as a human mic-stand for the MC. Speaking of MC, already on-stage upon my arrival was a full-sized Einstein cut-out that accompanied their statement that "E=MC everything"! The self-proclaimed "moronocy" continued as the singer clamoured onto the DJ's shoulders to sing (as well as continue to make a milkshake - don't ask). In between high-kicks, jumps and cartwheels they brought out another cardboard cut-out - this time of Obama - who made the ill-advised attempt to crowd surf and was immediately ripped to pieces (literally). Bob Marley didn't have the same fate since he remained on-stage through Hollowpoint (with the 'I's the B'y' chorus dedicated to the Newfs!) as well as the eventual encore.
USS did their best, including all the stage antics they could muster, and did manage to get a party going. In my opinion the whole thing was just a little forced, on the crowd's end anyway, as people didn't let quite as loose as Hillsiders are known to. Nonetheless, like the milkshake that the boys made and consumed onstage during their set, the tent did end up frothing by the end.
Woodhands
The next attempt came from Woodhands - another two-piece - this time with a drummer, Paul Banwatt, and a keytarist (among other things), Dan Werb. In fact, considering there were just the two of them the stage set-up seemed as intense as it was for the Library Voices who had preceded them with a whopping 9 members! Once the drums, keyboards, synths, effect pedals, keytar, vocoder mic and everything else were set the crowd in the Island tent was bursting at capacity and ready to get the party started. Everyone was so gung ho to go that Dan just grabbed the mic and started the show without allowing the lady on her way to do the introduction to make it. From the first kicks to the drum the audience was into it, as was geek-extraordinaire Mr. Werb who was all over the stage, and sometimes in the crowd, screaming into the mic. Whether or not the crowd knew the songs ahead of time didn't matter as the beat was easy to find and the dancing was wild. I Wasn't Made For Fighting was a fave of mine, but songs were interchangeable since people were loving everything coming their way. Even the cover of Electric Avenue and a few lines of "you say I'm just a friend" were met with a raucous response. With balloons and surfing sweaty bodies floating over our heads during set closer Dancer there was no way we were ready to end this party just yet. Again the lady attempted to address the crowd after Dan and Paul had disappeared backstage but she was entirely drowned out by the won't-take-no-for-an-answer cheers for another song. We got our wish and the two gods-for-a-night returned to rock us for another ten minutes. The show was uninhibited dance-your-ass-off party-time fun for all. Congratulations Woodhands - you take the Hillside 2009 party crown!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Hillside's Party Band (USS vs Woodhands)
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Hillside Guide
A few acts I'm making a point of catching - hopefully I'll see you at some of these!
Coeur de Pirate may be my most anticipated set of the festival, basically because I fell hard for Beatrice (don't tell my g/f) upon first hearing this lovely chanteuse and have yet to see her live. This lovely tattooed young lady sings glorious songs en francais over lilting piano. Added incentive is that she was a Polaris Prize long-lister.
Clues are a delightful band outta Montreal who's debut self-titled album recently dropped. Not only that but they are part of the third Pop Montreal showcase at Hillside - and those Pop Montrealers are no slackers.
Bruce Peninsula have released a most excellent album entitled A Mountain is a Mouth and I can't wait to see their stage adaptation.
Patrick Watson a beloved Canadian indie rock figure that I have never seen before. Therefore I can't speak for his live performances but based on recordings I'm intrigued and excited to try him out.
Timber Timbre aka Taylor Kirk has a buzz following him everywhere - enough to get swooped up by the Arts&Crafts label. Should be a soft, lovely show.
The aforementioned I am excited to see for the first time, whereas I can vouch for the following acts having taken them in before (check the links!).
Hey Rosetta! I won't even get into all the reasons why, but I love the poop outta these guys (and girl). As awesome as Into Your Lungs is - the live show blows it outta the water (in this case, Guelph Lake).
Final Fantasy. Violin. Loops. Pop. Amazing. A must-see!
Woodhands are a two-piece that bring the energy.
The Arkells from Hamilton put on a rockin' live show from my experience.
As always there will be plenty to see at this year's fest and I look forward to checking out a bunch of others in addition to this list including The Rural Alberta Advantage, Australia's The Grates, the token party-band for this year (besides Woodhands) - USS, Sunparlour Players, Silver Starling, Library Voices and the list goes on.
Okay, so I guess that hardly narrowed the list down.. you'll have to see what turns your crank.
I don't claim to be an expert - though can anyone really be an expert when it comes to music? It's all so subjective. Therefore in terms of Hillside Festival acts I would definitely encourage you to check the bands out for yourself. In addition to the above list I'll even provide a handy R3 playlist I created as a jumping off point. It is recently updated and features only Hillside 2009 bands; by clicking the currently playing artist you can access more music and info from that artist on their New Music Canada page.
Friday, May 09, 2008
Wooden Hands and Foxy Jaws.
Coming up the stairs to the ebar I already liked what I was hearing. A five-piece I later found out was named "Fox Jaws" was playing some accessible guitar-indie with shared male/female vocals. They didn't totally blow anyone away but I am more than a little interested in checking them out again on June 5th when they return to Guelph. The song "Dance your face off" was a highlight but hardly accomplished its stated goal.
Next up "Beth in Battle Mode" (after a somewhat prolonged delay) played a keyboard-heavy mash that wasn't unappealing but sort of wore thin with the same call & response choruses song after song.
Finally (I say that cuz it was a later night than usual for a Thursday ebar gig) Woodhands took to the stage with the drummer (Paul) at his kit on one side of the wall of music-making materials, and the primary singer (Dan) on the other, ready to attack his sorted array of instruments. The word "frenetic" kept coming to mind while taking in this spectacle - mostly in the "frantic-energetic" sense. With only 2 members they filled the space pretty well (with much thanks to the looping pedals, and drum machines) and totally played off of each other in a very natural manner. Paul even laid down a couple rhymes for us, including what I believe they said was a Wu-tang verse, while the keytarist keyed us up to high energy. Much of the crowd was moving along to the jam session especially during closer (and personal fave) 'Dancer' that was "a long one" (as promised after they declared it was their last song to some vocal disappointment). This final hurrah swirled and soared and twisted all around until crashing to an extended (but enjoyable) close. Woodhands proved to be a band that lived up to their live billing and look to have a bright future ahead.
